When Greg came home almost two years ago with a Traeger, I actually rolled my eyes. I mean, Really? We already had a BBQ. 

So, not so great of a ‘Q.

Ok, I admit, it tended to burn more than grill, but if you were careful not to turn any of the burners above M, and set your food over a burner that was turned completely off, then you had a pretty good chance of having a decent couple sausages among the burnt or raw ones. Especially if you moved them all around a lot. 

But, Really? A Traeger?

I hadn’t paid much attention to Greg’s discussions with the Traeger salesman. At the time, we were moving the store, and I was a little distracted by the other important stuff at the time. But Greg had gotten it into his head to start selling the Traeger’s once we moved the store, and I wasn’t going to argue. He had just let me order a lovely new cheese display counter that I was thinking about how to fill with more than Gouda.
All I knew was that they were a higher end grill that crossed over into the smoking world. And our family’s budget wasn’t expecting a grill purchase. 

(But, sometimes, he is actually right.)

Yes,  I admit it. He’s often quite brilliant sometimes. 

We’ve now had our Traeger Ironwood 650 for quite some time, and I will definitely blog and share some of our experiences, and I plan on showcasing Taylor’s (Butcher Supreme at Schinkels’) adventures in grilling in future blogs, but for tonight, I just want to share how the Traeger saved the day (again) tonight.

It’s Ella’s Birthday!

Which, in our family, means that she gets to decide what she wants for dinner. She chose Chicken Enchilada’s, so I made sure I had everything in the house, and came home early today to make sure it was done for dinner at 6:15ish.

I got everything ready, and turned on the oven at 5:00.

Nothing. 

Absolutely nothing happened. Oven didn’t even spark, or have the little glow-y light going on under the thingy. No heat. No nothing.

AARGG. 

Not too many things get me upset, but perfectly good appliances that don’t do what they are told are one of them. Now, to be reasonable, this is the oven that survived a small kitchen fire a few years ago, and might have had it’s control panel get a little melty. (The numbers 4 and 8 do not work). And the convection option stopped working about 6 months ago. So I probably knew that it was struggling to keep up with pressures of a family that likes casseroles and lasagna.

But, seriously.

What Now?

In case you hadn’t guessed, I decided to turn that brilliant Traeger on. I’ve had pretty good results already with pies and bread, so a simple casserole-type dish shouldn’t give it too much trouble. 

The beauty of the the Traeger lies in the little magic computer that moves the auger that sends the wood pellets to feed the flame. I set the control at 350F, and the computer keeps the Traeger within 10 degrees of 350F.

It was that simple to have the enchiladas baked and ready for a little after 6:00. And, as a bonus, we also got an apple-y smoked flavour to every bite.

So, yes, Greg is brilliant for bringing home our Traeger. He gets a kiss of gratitude tonight.